In Pantouflia, it is the custom that a ball must not end while one of the royal family goes on dancing. _This_ ball lasted till the light came in, and the birds were singing out of doors, and all the mothers present were sound asleep. [Illustration: Page 42] Then nothing would satisfy the prince, but that they all should go home singing through the streets; in fact, there never had been so merry a dance in all Pantouflia. The prince had made a point of dancing with almost every girl there: and he had suddenly become the most beloved of the royal family. But everything must end at last; and the prince, putting on the cap of darkness and sitting on the famous carpet, flew back to his lonely castle. [Illustration: Chapter Eight] CHAPTER VIII.--_The Prince is Puzzled_ PRINCE PRIGIO did not go to bed. It was bright daylight, and he had promised to bring the horns and tail of a Firedrake as a present to a pretty lady. He had said it was easy to do this; but now, as he sat and thought over it, he did not feel so victorious. “First,” he said, “where is the Firedrake?” He reflected for a little, and then ran upstairs to the garret. “It _should_ be here!” he cried, tossing the fairies’ gifts about; “and, by George, here it is!” Indeed, he had found the spyglass of carved ivory which Prince Ali, in the _Arabian Nights_, bought in the bazaar in Schiraz. Now, this glass was made so that, by looking through it, you could see anybody or anything you wished, however far away. Prigio’s first idea was to look at his lady. “But she does not expect to be looked at,” he thought; “and I _won’t!_” On the other hand, he determined to look at the Firedrake; for, of course, he had no delicacy about spying on _him_, the brute. The prince clapped the glass to his eye, stared out of window, and there, sure enough, he saw the Firedrake. He was floating about in a sea of molten lava, on the top of a volcano. There he was, swimming and diving for pleasure, tossing up the flaming waves, and blowing fountains of fire out of his nostrils, like a whale spouting! [Illustration: Page 44] The prince did not like the looks of him. “With all my cap of darkness, and my shoes of swiftness, and my sword of sharpness, I never could get near that beast,” he said; “and if I _did_ stalk him, I could not hurt him. Poor little Alphonso! poor Enrico! what plucky fellows they were! I fancied that there was no such thing as a Firedrake: he’s not in the Natural History books; and I thought the boys were only making fun, and would be back soon, safe and sound. How horrid being too clever makes one! And now, what _am_ I to do?” What was he to do, indeed? And what would you have done? Bring the horns and tail he must, or perish in the adventure. Otherwise, how could he meet his lady?--why, she would think him a mere braggart. The prince sat down, and thought and thought; and the day went on, and it was now high noon.